An increasing number of Australians are spending big on private jets for holidays, interstate meetings and relocating their pets in luxury. Charter planes flew almost 320,000 people in January, according to government figures, a 28% increase on the 250,000 recorded in January 2020, before Covid travel restrictions were introduced. While many passengers were staff sent to work in remote locations, aviation experts say much of the recent increase is due to wealthy people chartering private planes.
Some charter companies have doubled their profits, while others have searched for more planes as they struggle to meet demand. And even as commercial flights have picked up after Covid, clients once wary of the virus have remained loyal, now unwilling to risk cancellations and delays.
But climate scientists warn this trend is bad for the environment, with some describing private jets as “the most polluting form of transport you can take”. Short domestic flights can cost thousands of dollars on a private jet, a stark contrast to the cost-of-living crisis and the growing gap between Australia’s richest and poorest.
Nick Stobie, the chief pilot at Australian Air Safaris, which operates from Moorabbin airport in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, said business had boomed since the pandemic thanks to “time-poor, wealthy individuals who are not price sensitive”.
“It can take us 15-20 minutes to prepare a quote after receiving an inquiry and it’s not uncommon to have clients offering up credit card details to make the booking before even hearing the price,” Stobie said.
The appeal of private
The Australian industry is not as developed as in Europe, where private jets are used to travel relatively short distances. High-profile celebrities have been criticised for flying privately on 10-20 minute journeys, generating tonnes of CO2 emissions.
But in Australia, the Covid pandemic has made private jets more appealing.
Global private jet charter broker Air Charter Advisors, which is based in the US but operates out of Australia, recorded a 104% increase in demand between 2019 and 2021. Demand dropped by about 12% in 2022 but has remained stable so far in 2023.
“We do a lot of business in Australia,” said company spokesman Adam LeRoy. “Australian commercial airlines are dealing with staff shortage and are still a bit of an unknown in terms of which destinations will be available.”
LeRoy said most flights in Australia were relatively short, between Sydney and Melbourne. He said some people fly private so they can travel with their pets, including rabbits.
“That’s a service we’ve had a lot of requests for, especially during the pandemic,” LeRoy said. “Most of them are for relocations, but a lot of them are for just leisure travel. They just want to bring their pet with them.”
‘Don’t have to fight the masses’
In the wake of the pandemic, consumers across the country have complained of high prices and late services.
In December, the consumer watchdog put airlines on notice over high prices and said it would closely monitor services to ensure they were not deliberately slowing a return to full service capacity to increase profit margins.
In the same month, about a quarter of all commercial flights arrived late, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. That figure has fallen slightly in recent months, with the cancellation rate remaining steady at 3.1%.
Australian Air Safaris’ Stobie said the increase in the number of private plane passengers was largely due to wealthy Australians spending big for convenience. His clients who live in Melbourne’s affluent eastern suburbs are unwilling to battle traffic to reach the Tullamarine airport in city’s north-west – an hour away by car.
“They don’t have to fight the masses through security and can be in the aircraft taxiing for departure less than 10 minutes after arriving in our lounge,” Stobie said.
Rick Pegus, the general manager of Navair, a charter company with hubs in Brisbane, Sydney, Dubbo and Melbourne, said only 20% of those who could afford to charter do so, with most people in Australia fairly conservative financially.
“But we’re now getting a higher percentage of those people,” he said. “They’re choosing convenience.
“Demand has been up as airlines have really struggled with staff and getting going again after Covid. That’s caused a lot of delays. A lot of bad customer service. The cost has also gone up for a number of reasons.”
Pegus said a private flight between Sydney and Melbourne usually cost about $10,000 – almost 30 times more than a $350 commercial flight – but argued that was relatively affordable for a group of five people who usually fly business class. A larger plane with eight passengers might cost $17,000.
“A lot of people staying in luxury accommodation could be spending between $3,000 and $10,000 a night, so why skimp on the way of getting there?” Pegus said.
Michael Doohan, who owns the Gold Coast-based charter service Global Jet International, said the sector was scrambling for more jets to meet demand in Australia.
“We’ve got some more coming this year. But I mean, one or two more aircraft isn’t going to meet the demand,” Doohan said.
“There’s a lot of first-time buyers. Having not experienced it before the pandemic, they actually enjoyed the experience. We’ve probably retained 50% or more of those people who had never chartered and are still wanting to.”
The downside of jet-setting
Andrew King, a senior lecturer in climate science at the University of Melbourne, said the booming private aviation sector was bad news for the environment.
“The use of private jets is much worse in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than flying typical passenger jets like most of us do occasionally,” King said.
Private jets are up to 14 times more polluting per passenger than commercial planes, with private jets emitting an estimated two tonnes of CO2 in just one hour, according to the Brussels-based climate research group Transport & Environment.
But many charter companies argue their impact is relatively small, given private planes account for about 4% of all aviation emissions.
The Australia Institute’s senior economist, Matt Grudnoff, said the increasing popularity of private jet use mirrored an increase in wealth inequality.
Grudnoff said many families were struggling to make ends meet after consecutive interest rate rises, stagnate wages and soaring inflation. He said some would struggle to afford commercial tickets.
“We’ve got a large cohort of people who are really struggling,” he said. “And at the same time, we’ve got this very small cohort who are doing really, really well with large amounts of money to spend on super luxury items, like chartered flights.”
